The problem of the common calendar

This article by Thomas Pott examines the question of a common liturgical calendar in Christianity, particularly the divergence between the Julian and Gregorian calendars and its implications for the unity of the Churches. Drawing on theological and liturgical reflection, the study situates this problem within the broader framework of the historical evolution of Byzantine liturgy and the tension between Tradition and renewal. The author argues that the calendrical gap is not an isolated problem, but the symptom of a progressive historicization of the mystery of Christ in Christian liturgical consciousness. His principal contribution consists in showing that a reform of the calendar, without a prior reform of the liturgical human being and his understanding of eschatological time, would remain superficial and generative of new schisms. The article thus proposes shifting the priority of the calendrical debate toward a fundamental ecclesiological and liturgical renewal, centered on the rediscovery of the paschal meaning of Sunday.